Trolley-wheel.



N0; 635,262. Patented Oct. I7, 1899.

J. H. 8v. G. H. LESTER. TROLLEY WHEEL.

(Application filed Jan. 81, 1899.)

(lo Iodel.)

UNITED STATES PATENT EEicEe JOHN H. LESTER AND GEORGE H. LESTER, OF NE\VYORK, N. Y.

TROLLEY-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,262, dated October17, 1899.

Application filed January 31, 1399. Serial No. 703,970. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN H. LEsrEE and GEORGE l-I. LESTER, citizens ofthe United States,and residents of New York, Brooklyn,) in the county ofKings and State of NewYork, have jointly invented a new and usefulImprovement in Trolley-Wheels, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in trolley-wheels in which therim and body of the wheel are composed of soft electrical conductingmetalsuch, for instance, as brass-provided with a central socket, acylindrical sleeve of hard metal forming a lining for the curved wall ofthe said socket, a disk of hard metal forming a lining for the base ofthe socket, a removable hard-metal cover for the mouth of the socket,and a series of bearing-rollers held in position within the sleeve bythe cover.

A practical embodiment of our invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side view of ourimproved trolley-wheel and a portion of its support. Fig. 2 is an edgeview of the same. Fig. 3 is a central section in the plane of the line 33 of Fig. 2,the said section being taken at right angles to thewheel-bearing spindle; and Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section inthe plane of the line et at of Fig. 1.

The forked end of the trolley-wheel support is denoted by A, thebranches of the fork within which the spindle B is mounted being denotedby a a The rim and body portion of the Wheel are denoted by O, and theymay be made of some suitable soft electrical conducting metal, as isusualsuoh, for instance, as brass. The rim is provided with the usualcircumferential groove 0. One side of the rim and body portion 0 of thewheel is provided with a recessed seat cfor the reception of aremovablecover, to be hereinafter described. The rim and body portion are furtherprovided with a central cylindrical socket 0 extended inwardly from theseat 0' to a point near the opposite side of the rim and body portion. Adisk D, of hard metal, is fitted into the base of the socket c and formsa lining therefor. A cylindrical sleeve (Z is inserted within thecentral socket 0 which sleeve is of suflioient width to form a liningfor the curved wall of the socket, the inner end of said sleeve restingagainst the disk D and the outer end preferably flush with the base ofthe seat 0.

d represents a hard-metal cover for the mouth of the socket, which coveris removably secured within the seat 0 by screws (1 which enter the bodyportion 0 of the wheel. The cover d is provided with a central hole (F,the lining-disk D with a central hole (1, and the body portion with acentral hole a, corresponding with the holes d and d. The spindle Bpasses through the holes (1 (1"0, which holes are of slightly-greaterdiameter than the spindle.

An annular series of hard-metal bearingrollers F are located within thecentral socket in the wheel and are interposed between the cylindricalsleeve cl and the spindle B. These bearing-rollers are held in theirposition by the removable hard-metal cover (1. Antifriction-washers Eare interposed between the sides of the wheel and the branches of theforked support around the spindle B.

By the structure hereinabove described the life of the trolley-wheel ismaterially increased, its conductivity is not impaired, and it runs withmuch greater freedom, because of the use of the antifriction-bearing.All of the wearing parts of the bearing are made of hard metal, whilethe body and rim of the wheel are still made of a soft electricalconducting metal, so that the wear upon the conducting-wiresis reducedto aminimum. Hy thus mounting the wheel so that it will not becomeclogged and stopped the danger of scoring the groove 0 is obviated.

It is evident that slight changes might be resorted to in the form andarrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit andscope of our invention. Hence we do not Wish to limit ourselves strictlyto the structure herein set forth; but

that we claim is In combination, a trolley-wheel comprising a rim andbody of soft electrical conducting metal provided with a centralcylindrical socket extended inwardly from one side of the body adistance sufficient to leave apertion of the body between the base ofthe friction-bearing for the wheel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as presence of two witnesses,this 30th day of January, 1899.

JOHN H. LESTER. GEORGE ll. LESTER.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, GEORGE BARRY, Jr.

our invention we have signed our names, in T5

